Karl Lagerfeld's Launching His Empire

In the past ten years, in no particular order, Karl Lagerfeld's designed collections for Chanel, Fendi, Hogan and Lagerfeld, capsule collections forMacy'sand H&M, worked campaigns for Volvo, Magnum Ice Cream and Diet Coke, directed short filmsfor Chanel, designed crystal for Orrefors and a $1500 teddy bear for Steiff, provided voice overs for Grand Theft Auto, sketched wine labels and launched K by Karl Lagerfeld, a short lived collection of men's and women's contemporary clothing. But now, he's getting serious.

The prolific designer announced his newest project—which sounds more like a comprehensive empire—called Karl, this morning. Karl is rooted in e-commerce, with the first women's collection, priced between $95 and $450, going live exclusively on Net-a-porter at the end of January. A month later, it will launch on Lagerfeld's own site. WWD describes the looks as ranging from "silvery jeans and Perfecto-style vests to an elegant black cocktail dress with a plunging back, some of them accessorized à la Karl with fingerless gloves and detachable, demonstrative collars," and Net-a-porter's Natalie Massenet said, "It's a very strong, well-edited collection with a great mix of street attitude and timeless chic. It also is an entire wardrobe that mixes and matches well with itself. While it has great contemporary price points, it has enough edge to resonate with a sophisticated fashion consumer who is looking for great new items at any budget."

Eventually, there will be pop-up shops and Karl stores, a men's wear line and wholesale accounts as well as a luxury collection, Karl Lagerfeld Paris. The company's president, Pier Paolo Righi, comes from Tommy Hilfiger and the branding courtesy of New York's Laird + Partners. Lagerfeld told WWD, "I just want not too expensive clothes that people may like and perhaps want to wear...That was my concept for a long time, but my business partners in the past wanted to be like Chanel or Fendi without putting behind what is needed to be like that."

As for whether or not he'll continue to act like the man he called "Labelfeld" the answer, according to Righi, is that he'll say no to collaborations more often than yes.

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